Not-so-Happy New Years
by BaOgden
Summary: It's New Years Eve and Owen really misses being alive. Meanwhile a yeti-type creature is on the loose and John returns to warn everyone that they are in danger. I DO NOT OWN TORCHWOOD.
1. Chapter 1

The weather was freezing, and snow was covering the pavements and streets in Cardiff. 'Shit', Owen said looking out of his window. Snow. Snow brought the possibility of ice, and ice in his dead condition meant the possibility of broken bones - permanently. The news alerted the viewers that the main roads were closed, and the smaller roads were even worse, so to avoid car travel altogether for the next couple of days. Great. How was he going to get into work in this fucking weather?

'Jack?' Owen was talking through his headset.

'Owen, I was just thinking about you.'

'Not in the shower, I hope.'

'No. Listen, me and Ianto will come and pick you up, okay? We can't risk you breaking your neck or something..'

So Owen just waited. He was always waiting.

'It's New Years Eve and we have this shit? How will we call a taxi tonight now?' Rhys was referring to the snow. Gwen really wasn't bothered by it. She was more focussed on taking the Christmas decorations down and getting ready for work.

'I don't know why you're bothering. It's not even been a week since Christmas and you're already insisting we take them all down again, we've only just put them up!'

'We'd end up leaving them up all year if it was down to you' Gwen retorted. 'Anyway, I've got to get into work. Good luck you trying', she taunted as she put her jacket on.

'I'll see you tonight then, at the party', Rhys replied.

'Yeah, maybe.'

'Maybe?'

'Well we've had a lot of time off work recently and we need to get back into the swing of things and get some serious work done. I'm not sure if I'll be back by nine. I'm sorry.'

Rhys groaned. 'Okay, see you later.'

It was a slippery walk to work. Gwen didn't risk using any vehicles, and she didn't have far to walk anyway. _I hope Owen gets in okay_, she thought to herself, remembering his condition.

When she arrived into work everyone was there. 'You got in okay?' Tosh asked.

'Yeah, why? It's only a bit of snow' Gwen replied, picking up a biscuit.

'Nice to look at it positively. I've always loved the snow. It's so fresh', Jack said. Ianto brought him a cup of tea. 'Thankyou. So, there's been a few reports of people being frozen to death.'

'Well it is cold', Ianto said, sipping his tea.

'I mean _frozen. _Like superman frozen', Jack replied.

'Maybe it was superman', Owen teased.

'Seriously, there's been no history of snow doing this to people. It's not done by nature. It's alien. Something is doing this to them.'

The sounds of Tosh's computer filled the room. Jack then held up a couple of pictures of the victims. It looked as if they had been frozen in a freezer, and taken out and left inside a big block of ice. 'The ice won't melt, either', Jack continued.

'Okay, I've found previous records of this. There's been one witness, but he's dead now. Same situation. No pattern, random people. I think it just found its victims depending on how easy it was to get to them. It just likes to kill', Tosh explained. 'The only statement we have of the witness is a large, furry white creature, whatever it touches that bears life gets frozen.'

'Sounds like we're looking for a yeti', Ianto said_. _

_'_That could be the case', Jack replied.

'Well, where do we find this.. "yeti", then?' Gwen asked, concerned.

'It could be anywhere. Anywhere that's covered in snow. So in this case it could be anywhere in Cardiff by now, if not further', Tosh told everyone.

'Right, we better get looking. I want this thing dead.' Everyone got ready to go. 'Owen, be careful, okay?' Owen rolled his eyes.

After hours of looking, Jack decided it would be easier if the team split up into groups. 'Ianto, Tosh, you're with me. Owen and Gwen, you go that way.'

'If we don't find this bloody thing soon..' Owen began as him and Gwen trailed around central Cardiff.

Things were weird with Owen at the moment, Gwen felt. He was quieter and with all the staring and after the Christmas present thing she was unsure and a little bit self-conscious. However she decided not to bring it up at the moment, they had a yeti to find.

'Oh! Owen look!' Gwen whispered. Owen looked to the direction of Gwen's eyes.

'What the hell is that?' Owen asked. They were looking in the distance at this huge, loud, white fluffy creature, smashing through a park.

'What do we do?' Gwen asked.

'Well, Jack wants the thing dead...' Owen got his gun out and pointed it at the creature, then took the safety off. Gwen copied him quickly. '1,2,3', he whispered, and they both shot at it. The creature barely noticed. It was too busy smashing up a shop window.

'It's not dying!' Gwen shouted.

'Give it a chance', Owen said, shooting another 5 bullets at it. The creature had then noticed them both and began walking towards them, grunting loudly.

'Shit, Owen!' Gwen shouted, as they started retreating slowly, guns still pointing at the creature. It was huge, about 8 feet tall, and had a hideous face, with deep set eyes which were black. They both took another few shots.

'Get it in the head!' Owen shouted. 'Shit. I'm out', Owen said, smacking his gun, frustrated.

Gwen took a few seconds to prepare, then aimed for the head, and shot. She got it straight between the eyes.

'Nice', Owen said. 'Jack, we've got it. And killed it', he said through his headset.

Already the team were back at the Hub, sat round the boardroom table with champagne and nibbles that Ianto had picked up on the way back.

Tosh insisted she popped the cork as it was "her turn". Owen was sat glumly on a chair, staring into space.

It was getting on for 8 and Tosh kept counting down the hours to midnight in Gwen's ear. By 9 they decided to go down the pub and celebrate the New Year there.

'Where's Rhys?' Jack asked Gwen as he downed another glass of champagne at the bar.

'He's gone into town tonight with his mates. I quite fancy staying here, though. I don't think I've seen you drink champagne before, Ianto', Gwen giggled, downing her drink, too.

'Oh, I'm quite the drinker', Ianto said.

'Fuck it', Owen muttered under his breath. 'Pint of bitter', he said to the hairy looking man behind the bar.

'Owen, what are you doing?' Jack asked him, exasperated.

'Not caring anymore', Owen said. The barman handed him his beer, and he chugged it all in one.

'What are you doing? You can't drink.. you're _dead_', Gwen whispered sharply. Owen laughed.

'You're no fun', he replied. Owen ordered another beer and downed it just like the first.

'Owen, let me take you home', Gwen said. Owen scoffed, and turned to the barman (who didn't understand what all the fuss was about) to order another drink.

'Okay, come on Owen, let's go', Jack said, grabbing his arm and forcefully dragging him out of the pub when he tried to resist.

Owen and Jack had to stop in the street while Owen brought up the beer. Owen shouted in disgust. 'For fucks sake!' Jack waited patiently until Owen was done.

'Why did you do this?' Jack finally asked when Owen had finished.

'Why not? This is barely even a life, Jack. I can't eat, I can't drink, I can't shag, I can't do anything!' Owen looked like he was about to cry, and then lay on the floor.

'Come on, let's get you home.'


	2. Chapter 2

It had been a week since the incident at the pub. The atmosphere at work had been slightly awkward; everyone felt they were treading on eggshells around Owen.

The rift had been quite tame the past week, too, so everyone was left with barely anything to do. Ianto had made coffee for everyone, and was just putting the sugars in when he was disturbed.

'Hello, eye candy', he heard from behind him.

'Oh God..' Ianto said when he realised who it was. John had appeared, Jack holding him by the scruff of his neck. Jack dragged him into the main part of the hub, where everyone looked up.

'What the hell is he doing here?' Owen asked angrily. Everyone was surprised, this was the first time Owen had really spoken this week.

'He claims he has something important to tell us..' Jack said sounding slightly fed up.

'I bloody well do' John piped up, frowning.

'_What_?' Jack asked him, letting go of his coat as he batted Jack's hand away.

John straightened himself up, then looking from person to person, starting to look serious. 'There's something coming', he said.

Owen laughed, his hatred for John completely clear.

'There is!' John pushed as no one had the reaction he was expecting. He sounded like a child.

'Yeah.. okay' Jack said, not sounding bothered in the slightest.

'Fine, you know what? I hope you all die' he said, sounding again, like a spoilt child.

'Is that it?' Owen asked, not even looking up from what he was doing.

John looked even more irritated, and began to leave.

'Don't let the door hit you on the way out' Ianto smiled sarcastically.

John left, giving Ianto a glare as he did so.

'What do you think that was all about?' Gwen asked, finishing the biscuit she had been eating.

'No idea..' Jack replied, retreating to his office.

Everyone continued with their work for another half an hour, Toshiko researching on her computer, Owen fiddling with some tech equipment and Gwen also typing away on a computer. Then suddenly Tosh broke the silence. 'Hey, guys, remember that yeti?'

Gwen looked up, 'the one from last week? What about it?'

'There wasn't just one.'

'What?' Gwen asked.

'There's been sightings of another one in a playing field not far from here. It was last spotted last night. People thought it was a bear.'

Gwen looked concerned, and went to get Jack.

'So, looks like our yeti had a friend' Jack said after reading the article on Tosh's computer. 'And I'm guessing they don't just come in sets of two.'

'Why do you think they're here?' Gwen asked, looking at Jack.

'It must have just come through the rift. The only place they feel at home is in the snow, which is why they're lingering here. I don't think they mean any harm, really. They just feel threatened by humans. They've never seen anything like us before.'

'Maybe we could just capture them?' Gwen suggested.

'And put them where?' Owen asked, joining the rest of the group.

'Nowhere. We don't have anywhere to put them and once the snow has melted they won't survive. The kindest thing to do would be to put them out of their misery. I just hope there isn't loads of them..' Jack walked off to get his coat from his office. No one wanted to kill the creatures, but it was the only plan they had. They knew Jack found it just as hard as they did when it came to deciding a creature's fate.


	3. Chapter 3

They all set out on foot, searching for these strange white creatures. The snow had almost all melted.

'I wonder how many there are..' Tosh muttered.

'A bloody lot I expect' Owen replied.

'Look', Gwen pointed towards where they were stood, and everyone's eyes reached the thing in which she was pointing to.

'Okay, move out. We'll surround it. How many bullets did you say it took to take down the first one?' Jack asked Gwen and Owen.

'About 6 or 7', Owen replied.

'Right. Aim for the head!' Jack said loudly as they ran towards the creature.

'Jack!' Ianto shouted. He'd spotted another one. The only problem was that it had spotted them first. It began running towards Ianto, who was the closest to it. 'Shit..' he muttered, loading his gun, his hand shaking. _Why didn't you load it, first?_ he thought to himself angrily. He then spun around, but by that point the creature was 5 metres from him, towering over him intimidatingly. _I'm too late_, he thought to himself. The creature's large hand moved towards him, in a fist. It was stupidly strong for something _fluffy _and white. The ground shook with every step it took.

'NO!' Jack shouted, his gun raised. One touch and you were dead. Trapped in an icy coffin forever. Jack took 5 shots at the creature, 2 bullets in the hand, the other 3 in the head. It began to fall. 'MOVE!' Jack shouted at Ianto, who was slightly disoriented, and ran out of the way before he was crushed by the huge beast.

'Great. One down, What about this one?' Owen said to himself, dodging the creature's arms as they swung at him. 'Can I get some help?' he shouted.

Gwen turned round, lifted her gun and shot at it. 'It's moving too much..' she muttered, frustrated.

At that point another one appeared and started running towards them. It heard all the commotion, which was understandable as the things were pretty loud.

'Me and Ianto will take down this one, Toshiko, you help Gwen and Owen finish that one off.' Toshiko nodded, aiming her gun at the constantly moving white beast that was screaming at them all.

'This is ridiculous. I feel like I'm in bloody Scooby Doo', Gwen said, aiming her gun at the "yeti" who had started to calm down, and was moving less.

'Yeah, except when we're done they won't take their masks off and say "I would have gotten away with it if it wasn't for these meddling kids". And we have no dog', Owen replied. He then shot the creature in the head, and it dropped to the floor. Another gunshot came from behind them, and they heard another loud thud. They turned round and saw three creatures lying on the floor, followed by Ianto saying 'I've got blood on my bloody shoes.'

Just as they were leaving to return to the Hub, John appeared again.

Owen groaned. 'What a bloody surprise.'

'Nice to see you, too', John said.

'What are you doing here, John?' Jack asked him impatiently.

'I've come to warn you.. again.'

'Yeah, yeah. You said all of that earlier. "Something's coming"', Gwen said, rolling her eyes. John scowled at her.

'Something _is_ coming.'

'What's coming?' Jack asked him.

'Oh so now you all want to know', John smirked. Ianto looked as if he was about to spark John out - his fist was raised and everything.

'Okay, okay! Wow, eye candy has a temper..'

'Get on with it', Ianto said through gritted teeth.

'I don't know exactly.. sources told me that something is coming. And it's not going to be good. Thousands of lives are going to be put in danger', John told them.

'What sources?' Jack asked him, sounding more and more irritated.

'Well that's my business.'

'Fine. Okay. When?'

'In a couple of months', John replied.

'Great. Thanks for the heads up', Jack replied, and they left.

Back at the Hub, everyone was sat working, researching, making coffee, the usual. Owen was sat staring into space, the same morbid expression on his face that he'd had all week.

Ianto brought him some papers that he'd mentioned he needed.

'Cheers', Owen replied.

_No 'tea boy'?_ Ianto thought to himself. _Something must be wrong_.

Ianto walked back into the kitchen for a while, beckoning Gwen and Tosh in there with him. Owen didn't even notice.

Five minutes later the three of them returned, surrounding Owen. He looked up, a suspicious look on his face.

'Owen, we understand how hard this is for you. We really do. We're a team, we work together. So we've decided we're going to cheer you up', Ianto told him.

'How?' Owen asked, curious.

'Twister!'

Jack came out of his office, carrying the Twister box with one hand, smiling.

That evening consisted of them laughing, using foul language and falling on top of each other. 'You're such a cheat!' Ianto shouted at Jack.

'How did you work that one out?' Jack asked, laughing.

'Those 51st century pheromones of yours..' Ianto started, looking up at Jack.

'Save it for the bedroom, you two. I'm about to win', Owen said.

'No you're not!' Gwen shouted. 'An earthquake would hit and I'd still be on all fours.. wait..'

Owen raised his eyebrow.

'Enough dirty talk, it's my turn', Jack said as the spinner landed on "left foot red." Everyone else burst out with laughter.

'Good luck with that one, mate', Owen said. He had two of his feet behind him, leaning over with one hand holding him, on the blue spot.

'Thanks', Jack replied, moving his left foot carefully onto a red spot on the mat. Owen had made a gizmo a couple of years back that moved the spinner, so that everyone could play, and no one had to be in charge of the spinner.

'No! Not yellow!' Tosh shouted as the spinner landed on right hand yellow. Gwen started laughing again.

'I wouldn't be laughing if I were you, Gwen. Have you seen what it's just landed on?' Owen said, smirking.

'Bollocks', she replied.

That evening everyone returned home with a big smile on their face. Even Owen.

'See you later!' Tosh shouted as she departed, crossing the road away from Gwen and Owen.

'See ya', Tosh!' Owen shouted.

'Bye!' Gwen waved, still partly laughing as she walked backwards down the street with Owen. 'That was a laugh', she said, smiling.

'Yeah. We should do stuff like this more often. I could use a break once in a while.'

'Me too.'

They reached the end of the road in which they both turned different directions for home.

'Right.' Owen said with his hands in his pockets. 'See you tomorrow, Gwen', he winked at her.

'Bye, Owen.' Gwen turned and started walking home. Owen stood and watched her until she disappeared into the darkness, and then returned home, too.


End file.
